Welcome

Welcome to the Fire Service of Nova Scotia’s (FSANS) Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) website.

Our mandate is to provide Critical Incident Stress Management services for the fire service in Nova Scotia. We also provide CISM services to volunteer Ground Search and Rescue (GSAR) teams across our province. Currently we average providing service to several hundred personnel (fire and others) annually. This includes an array of CISM services which are explained later under the heading “What Can Be Done?” 2023 has proven to be much busier than in previous years thus ensuring the important need for this service playing a critical role in supporting the mental health and well-being of firefighters, helping them cope with the emotional impact of these critical incidents and promoting long-term resilience and recovery.  

This website will explain what Critical Incident Stress is, its causes and symptoms and most importantly, what can be done to mitigate those uncomfortable, but normal, reactions. Our brief description cannot explain everything about Critical Incident Stress and how to cope with it, but hopefully, the information will help you understand how this type of stress can affect you and those close to you.

2023 - A YEAR TO BE REMEMBERED IN NOVA SCOTIA 

2023 presented significant challenges for the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team of the Fire Service Association of Nova Scotia (FSANS), Canada, in the form of two major natural disasters, wildfires and a severe flash flood. Despite being stretched to its limits, our CISM team successfully met the demands placed upon it.

To read full article click here

BACKDRAFT 

A POEM BY

Jeff Hosick

FSANS CISM Team Member

Backdraft

I did not cry at the scene.

I folded the tarp, checked my gear, and told a joke I didn’t mean.

I drove home with smoke in my lungs and silence in my chest,

Telling myself… I’ll talk about it later.

But later never came.

Inside me, the room was sealed.

Heat rising, fear swirling like dust in a sunbeam I refused to notice.

I thought that made me strong.

I thought stillness meant control.

But the layers thickened, the pain got heavy, and the air turned thin.

Years passed like minutes.

Then someone opened a door – a kind word,

A question too close, a memory with teeth.

And I exploded.

Not in rage, but in sorrow.

Not in violence, but in collapse.

That was the moment they called it PTSD.

But the fire had started long before.

Now I carry matches and water.

I teach others to vent with grace…before the heat becomes prophecy.

Because the flame you ignore doesn’t go out.

It waits.

And the first breath of truth can save you or destroy you…

Depending on whether you’re ready to speak before it speaks to you.

Jeff Hosick

FSANS CISM Team Member

FSANS CISM Team Fall Conference 2024